


Too Close to Home

by airy_nothing



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 08:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airy_nothing/pseuds/airy_nothing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carole packs up Finn’s dorm room after his death. Burt is there to help—so is Puck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Close to Home

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry for posting this so soon. Creating something, even something sad, is helpful to me.

“Finn?” Carole’s voice echoed in the near-empty dorm room.

There was nothing.

And she knew it, of course—there was nothing now. There would be nothing. 

Still, she asked. 

The last of Finn’s things were finally packed into brown corrugated boxes that formed a small tower near the dorm room door. Scrawled into the side of each one, in the same shaky hand, her hand, was Finn’s name. 

The box at the top of the pile was still open. Layered inside were ordinary things: a half-used notebook, a mug etched with some fraternity’s insignia, a photo of the glee kids and Finn at Sectionals. Carole folded the top of the box closed, and readied the clear packing tape.

And yet, she wasn’t ready.

“You okay?” Burt peeked his head in the door, his breathing giving away how much he’d exerted himself with carrying yet another set of boxes down the stairs. Puck was helping too, but Carole knew Burt needed the mindless labor right now, so she didn’t ask him to sit and rest for a while. 

Instead she nodded, not quite trusting her voice. But then she gathered herself and murmured, “It’s different, when it’s your child.” She could see, without looking his way, Burt’s nod of assent. Some later day she would be able to articulate what was different exactly, because this casing away of _things_ was far too familiar. 

Out the window it was sunny for the moment. It was one of those days where showers threatened but gave way to clear skies, only to have the gray come back, as if the two conditions were in competition with each other. 

“Do you want me to take that now?” Burt asked, so gently, as he reached out and lay a hand a top her own, even as she still grasped the tape. 

She nodded, and stood back as her husband ripped a length of tape free from the roll and sealed the box. 

She started to think, _It’s going to be all right,_ but then blocked the thought before it fully formed. Instead she allowed, _It’s going to be the end of the day soon,_ and left it at that.

Outside, near the car, Burt finished securing the last boxes, while Puck hugged her tightly as students strolled past. A few glanced more directly at Carole, and their quiet gazes told her that they knew—had _known_ —her son. She was thankful they didn’t approach her.

And when the rain came down at last, as they stood near the car, Carole could see blue sky just beyond, and white clouds kissed by sunlight. 

The gray cloud emptying itself seemed to be doing so just for her. She felt the rain peck at her clothes, the wetness seep in and touch her skin. 

She felt it all.


End file.
